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My chest thudded. Heknewthe effect his body had on me. I may as well hang a neon sign around my neck that said, “Not used to having hot sports gods strip for her.”

“Nothing’s wrong. Everything is perfect.” Was it just me, or was my voice a little too squeaky?

He threw his shirt down and edged closer. The boat wobbled a little, and I rolled into him as he settled at my side. At least with the tarp, neither of us were at risk of getting splinters. Brody rested his head in his palm, and his blue eyes drilled into mine. With the softest smile, he brought his hand to my face, brushing my cheek with his thumb. “How about we start where we left off?”

My heart boomed in my chest. From memory, we’d left off just as I’d come embarrassingly fast and hard against his hand. Still, I’d gladly give it another go-around, just for old times’ sake. I nodded, and the corners of his eyes crinkled.

He took a long breath, then trailed his fingertips along the pale skin at my waist. “I remember you asking me to touch you.” Brody dragged his fingers higher, nudging at the bottom of myT-shirt, shifting it further up my ribs. “Do you want me to touch you again?”

Practically squirming under his hand, I chewed at my lip. He was teasing me! Taking his time on purpose. Of course, he was. This was Brody. I’d expect nothing less, but it didn’t mean I had to play along.

“I remember things differently. I touched you first.” With my words, I brought my hand down to grip his hard length through his wet jeans. Just like before, in my room, he tipped his head back and groaned. I moved again, stroking him through the denim. “Do you rememberthis, Brody?”

He nodded, touching my neck, kissing the skin there, and sending a shiver through my body. “How could I forget?” With those words, he shifted to move over me, the bulge of his cock grazing against the zipper of my shorts. At the contact, my core tugged, and it was all I could do to stop my hips from chasing the sensation. From slamming into him. I reached out to grip one hard buttock. In response, Brody passed his tongue gently across my bottom lip, his breath in my mouth. “This time, I want to taste you.”

My pulse combusted in my veins, and I fought to steady my breath at the thought of Brody’s mouth on me. I could think of nothing more perfect. “I’d like that.”

Brody pushed up on his arms with the tiniest smile, muscles firing and tensing underneath his skin. The buzz of crickets on the shore scorched the thick early summer air as he raked his eyes over me, over my damp top, and across my breasts. His chest moved faster and harder than before. “Damn,” was all he rasped out before he joined me back on the canvas. His mouth crashed against mine, his wall of a rib cage pressing against me.

A whirlwind of sensations ran through my body, need, desperation, and a pulsing ache low down in my belly. I wantedthis man so damn much. Wanted all of him. And fast, before I exploded and scattered in a shower of debris to float on the lake.

With a shift of his weight, Brody nudged up my T-shirt and took one breast into his mouth. He circled his tongue around its hardened peak. At the same time, his fingertips played with the other, teasing and pinching until I thought I’d go mad with desire. I let out a tiny moan and at the sound, he traced a pathway down my ribs with his tongue.

Slowly, far too slowly, Brody undid my buttons. He punctuated each pop of metal against cotton with kisses that traveled lower and lower. The skin of my stomach tingled, and by the time he’d undone the last, I was a quivering mess, ready to agree to anything he suggested.

With the graze of his scruff on my hip, Brody tugged my shorts down, their damp cotton heavy and clinging to my skin. He stripped them off, along with my panties, and our eyes met for the briefest of moments before he gently nudged my thighs apart.

The second his tongue found my center, I was a lost cause. His persistent strokes, the glorious feel of him against my heat, rendered me a hopeless wreck. Completely lost at sea.

I tangled my fingers in his hair as time and time again he sent me higher. Rocketed me to the stars. Launched me soaring into a free fall of sensation and crazy need. A need to own Brody. To feel him inside me. To never let him go.

“Brody, I…please...” I had no idea what I was going to say. What I was even asking for, but at that moment, I looked down, and our eyes met. At the flash of white-hot flames, the touch paper he’d lit reached its destination, and an exquisite pulse of pure bliss washed over me. Years of pent-up desire. Countless hours of dreaming about moments just like this swept under me, over me, carrying my body and my heart to the edge before shattering me against the rocks.

I cried out his name, just as I had in my room, only this time I didn’t care who heard.

When, finally, my waves of pleasure subsided, Brody brought his lips to my inner thigh, his gaze still smoldering. He grinned. “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do that. I want to make you as happy as you make me.”

The look of pure joy on his face tugged at my heart. I had to say something. Tell him just how I felt. Finally, confess how much he meant to me.

“I love you,” I whispered, bringing my hand down to cup his face. “With all my heart. No questions, no reservations. No regrets. I’m yours.”

He ran his eyes over my face, as if, searching for a sign I was lying or joking. For the longest beat, he waited, but then his grin returned. “Mine. In all senses? I mean, I have to ask. What exactly does that cover?”

“Sorry?”

He nudged onto his elbows. “I mean, do I get the first choice of cinnamon rolls in the diner on Wednesdays? Do I get to hold your pom-poms when you’re in between routines at the cornhole games? Do I get to tell everyone you’re the only woman I could ever love?”

My heart swelled in my chest. “I’m not sure I can extend my affection to the cinnamon rolls, but the rest of your demands seem reasonable. I may have a demand or two to add into the mix.”

Brody leaned in and kissed my inner thigh again. “I’m all ears.”

I smiled. “I want more than your ears. I want everything about you. Every part.” He kissed my skin again, eyes firmly on mine. But he didn’t move, didn’t say a word. Was he seriously not taking my hint? “Brody. I’m not playing. I’d happily go overthe last few minutes on repeat, but I need you inside me. Please don’t make me beg.”

He glanced over his shoulder, looking back toward the town. Was he looking for an escape route?

“What are you doing?”

Brody shimmied up and landed a kiss just above my belly button. “I was just making sure Mrs. Woodcock wasn’t lurking on the bank. Hadn’t strapped a listening device to a frog. I’m not sure she would approve of such a request from her protégé. It would mark the end of your stretch as the Virgin Mary.”